Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

James Frederick Thomas George "Sam" Salt, (19 April 1940 – 3 December 2009) was a senior

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer of the late twentieth century. He was the captain of during the

Falklands War The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...

, the first British warship to be sunk by enemy action since the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

James Salt was born on 19 April 1940 in

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

in the county of

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. He was the son of Lillian and a Royal Naval officer, Lieutenant Commander George S. Salt who was lost in action in the

Gulf of Taranto The Gulf of Taranto (; Tarantino: ; ) is a gulf of the Ionian Sea, in Southern Italy. The Gulf of Taranto is almost square, long and wide, making it the largest gulf in Italy, and it is delimited by the capes Santa Maria di Leuca (to the eas ...

six months after his son's birth while in command of the submarine during the Second World War. Lillian later remarried another Royal Navy officer and James was raised in a military household.

Naval career

Salt received his early education at Wellington College, in the county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. On enlisting in the

he received a commission as an officer after passing through the

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

(1958–1959). After an early career on surface vessels in the 1960s serving in the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

and Atlantic Ocean, Salt volunteered for the sub-surface duty in which his father had lost his life. He commanded the submarine (1969–1971), was

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of (1973–1974), and commanded (1978–1979).

Falklands War

Salt was in command of the destroyer on 4 May 1982, when she was attacked and destroyed by Argentinian naval aircraft whilst on patrol in the

South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

during the war over the contested sovereignty of the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

. ''Sheffield'' was one of three vessels guarding the western flank of the British naval force when they were attacked. Two Argentinian

Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard The Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard (''Étendard'' is French for "War flag, battle flag", cognate to English "standard") is a French carrier-based aircraft, carrier-borne attack aircraft, strike fighter aircraft designed by Dassault Aviation, ...

strike aircraft attacked the vessels using

Exocet The Exocet () is a French-built anti-ship missile whose various versions can be launched from Warship, surface vessels, Submarine, submarines, Helicopter, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Etymology The missile's name was given by M. Guil ...

missiles. One struck the ship, causing a fire. Salt and the crew attempted to save the ship, but they were forced to abandon ship. ''Sheffield'' was taken in tow, but sank several days later, becoming the first Royal Navy warship to be sunk since the end of the Second World War.

Senior command

After the Falklands War he commanded the destroyer . In the mid-1980s his sea-going career came to an end and he became a Naval Staff Officer, holding the post of Assistant Chief of Staff (Operations) at Northwood. While at Northwood, he planned naval operations worldwide including

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

and the Falkland Islands operations, the evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon and the 1985 removal of

naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive weapon placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Similar to anti-personnel mine, anti-personnel and other land mines, and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges, they are ...

s from the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

. He then became Director of Defence Intelligence (1986–1987), at which time he was elevated to rear admiral's rank, and was subsequently the senior Naval representative at the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

. While he was Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff he was responsible for the Royal Navy's planning for the execution of the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

Retirement

After he retired from the navy in June 1991, Salt worked in a managerial capacity in a number of defence-related export, sales and marketing roles in the private sector, retiring from this work in 2005. Salt died aged 69 on 3 December 2009 of cancer.

Personal life

Salt married Penelope M. Walker in 1975, and had four sons. In 1991, Salt was named

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salt, Sam 1940 births 2009 deaths Companions of the Order of the Bath People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Royal Navy rear admirals Royal Navy personnel of the Falklands War Royal Navy personnel of the Gulf War